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Santa Cruz Warriors search for golden voice in announcer auditions

APTOS -- When he was in elementary school, Dana Hausman's teachers sent him home because they thought he had strep throat.

His mother, who worked in an emergency room, knew better. That wasn't strep throat, that was just the voice he inherited from his grandfather peeking through -- a very, very deep voice.

On Friday, after years of people telling him he should put his Barry White-esque vocal cords to good use, Hausman, a pharmacy technician at the Aptos Rite Aid, finally took the plunge. In front of four celebrity judges and with the eyes of more than 75 candidates on his back, Hausman auditioned to be the Santa Cruz Warriors public address announcer.

"Lots of people tell me I should do something related to voice work," said Hausman, 29, of La Selva Beach. "I saw my opportunity here, so I decided to spring upon it."

As the other contestants nervously pored over their scripts, Hausman stepped to the center of the Aptos High gym and took his seat at center court at an isolated table. It was positioned in front of a panel of judges that included Santa Cruz Warriors player Daniel Nwaelele, Santa Cruz Vice Mayor Hilary Bryant, Danny Keith, the executive director of Grind Out Hunger, and radio personality Jim Pearson from 92.7 KTOM's The Jim Show.

As if the scene wasn't intimidating enough, the script included several phrases that could trip up even the most silver-tongued salesman. Try saying "Nate Bjorkgren assisted by Vitaly Potapenko" while trying to avoid microphone feedback. It wasn't easy.

"The words aren't the hard part. I had a stutter when I was a kid, so I had to work through that," Hausman said. "My thing was being in the middle of the spotlight."

Hausman's sweet and low voice didn't fail him, though. He read the script flawlessly and scored just the second perfect 10 of the night, along with three 9s, from the judges. It was enough to land him in the top five, who will be called back for a Dec. 16 audition in front of season ticket holders, Santa Warriors brass and Golden State Warriors adviser Jerry West. The winner will be named at that event and his or her first task will be to reveal the new Development League basketball team's mascot.

"It's not always easy to go up and rock the mic," Keith said. "I bet some people checked off their bucket list tonight."

Scott Goodrich, a Santa Cruz mortgage broker by day and a PA announcer for his 12-year-old's football team on the weekends, was one of them. And he understood Hausman's stage fright.

"It's kind of like jumping out of a plane. You're really putting yourself on the line,"said Goodrich, who received an 8 and three 7s. "You never know what's going to happen. You just hope the parachute is going to open."

Kim Luke loved every second of the rush.

Luke, 48, has spent the past three years as the Santa Cruz Derby Girls announcer. She was one of just two women who auditioned and she made an impression similar to her derby name, Mildred Fierce. She dressed in her Derby Girls jacket and black pigtails and threw in a few local references, giving the judges the local flare they said they were looking for. The result? She pulled down two 10s -- the only person to get a pair -- and matched them with two 9s. She also advanced to the final along with Salinas High PA announcer Brian Day, Santa Cruz resident Jordan Ciliberto, who serves on the board of directors of the nonprofit Community Bridges, and Emil Diazon, who has been announcing at high schools and colleges for the past 20 years.

After finishing her script reading with a riffed rallying cry, Luke soaked up the applause as the judges revealed their scorecards.

"I felt like I was in the Olympics of talking," she said, "and I was winning."

Julie Jag is the Sentinel's sports editor. Contact her at jjag@santacruzsentinel.com.